May 10 2018

12 Tips for Writing Abstracts the Review Committee Will Love

Writing an abstract can be a daunting task, especially if you’ve never submitted one before! That’s why we’ve created this list of tips and tricks you can use to fine tune your abstracts before the due date on June 17th!

Written by: Tara Luther, Promega Corporation

Get in the head of the review committee

Get a feel for what the conference committee would like to see from submitted abstracts. Abstracts accepted for presentation at ISHI will be reviewed and selected based on novelty, community interest and scientific merit. To view what’s been presented in the past, visit the International Symposium on Human Identity Conference Proceedings here.

Tell the whole story

Before submitting an abstract, it is wise to have made sure that your work is completed. The conclusions of your work are very important, and by leaving them out of the abstract, it is difficult for the review committee to decide if your presentation is suitable for ISHI.

Check with collaborators

If you are working with others, make sure you get their permission before you submit an abstract. By submitting an abstract, you consent to the publication of the abstract in the program, both in print and on the conference website and the mobile CrowdCompass app.

Keep it short!

Brevity is important! As the review committee reads through many abstracts, it’s important not to lose your audience in unnecessary details. Limit your title to 300 characters and limit your text to 2,200 characters.

Leave nothing out

It’s important to consider that members of the review committee have most likely not read your research in its entirety, so think of this abstract as a separate document aimed at connecting solidly with ISHI.

Mark your calendar!

Take note of the deadlines for abstract submission. Oral abstracts and interesting case abstracts must be received by June 17th. Poster abstracts must be received by July 15th. Keep these deadlines in mind as you prepare your abstract, and include time to review your abstract to ensure there are no spelling and grammatical mistakes. You may also wish to leave time for a colleague to review your abstract prior to submission.

Mind the clock

If accepted for presentation, you will be allotted between 20-30 minutes to speak and field questions from the audience. Make sure that what you are proposing to present can fill this time slot without running over.

Choose your title carefully

This is your first impression on the review committee.

Paragraph 1 – Define the problem that your research addresses

Use the first paragraph to explain the context of your research, including the particular issue or question that your research seeks to solve. Why is this topic relevant to the ISHI community? You can also use this paragraph to demonstrate your knowledge on the topic.

Paragraph 2 – Explain your research

This is where you’ll dive into what you’ll be presenting. Outline your project and the techniques used. Most importantly, answer how you will solve the issue mentioned in the first paragraph. Include enough information so that a person not as intimately involved in your work is able to understand your approach. Include your results, but leave out graphs and figures.

Paragraph 3 – Conclusions

The third paragraph will show how your research affects the wider context of human identification, and why it is novel and innovative. Use this last paragraph to convince the review committee that you deserve time to present your research. There is no need to include a bibliography at the end of your abstract.

Submit a clean Word document

While it is helpful to track changes and show changes others have suggested, be sure that “Show Markup” is turned off prior to submitting your abstract.

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